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Wellington Fields Allotments - Hixon.

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Tree Project.

Koelreuteria Paniculata - Golden Rain Tree.

Koelreuteria Paniculata is also known as the Pride of India and the Varnish Tree. The latter name comes from the fact that a substance used in making varnish, or lacquer can be obtained from it and the former name arose because India, along with much of Eastern Asia, China, Korea and Japan are some of the many countries where it can be found. The tree grows quite quickly up to about 15m in 20-50 years. Koelreuteria Paniculata are very popular trees so this has encouraged the breeding of several cultivars. Being a small deciduous tree that is relatively Pest and disease free as well as being drought tolerant has helped its popularity. Trees do have a short lifespan and their Foliage is toxic to livestock, but in parks and gardens this does not generally prove to be a problem.
The Golden Rain Tree likes full sun which shows off its Leaves which are pinnate and about 16inches long with up to 15 leaflets on them. In early Spring they start off as pinkish going to yellow in the Autumn. Its name of Golden Rain Tree comes from its small yellow flowers that are held in bold panicles that look like a burst of yellow rain falling from the tree. Following the flowers an ornamental, bronze, bladder-like fruit, that changes from green through to orange and then to pink in the Autumn, forms. The fruit of course contains seeds that can easily be propagated although they do need stratification to bring about germination. The Fruit and the Bark of Koelreuteria Paniculata contains Saponin which is used to make a natural soap in Asia and Rosaries are made from the round, black, seeds.